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Harmonic Moments: The “AURELIA Chord”

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In music history there’s a famous collection of notes known as the “Tristan chord,” found in the opening of the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner. Properly the Tristan chord contains the notes F, B, D# and G#, shown in red below. These notes simply form a half-diminished seventh chord in third inversion, but … Read more

Here are all 14 verses to “When Morning Gilds the Skies”

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The German hymn “Beim frühen Morgenlicht” (Katholisches Gesanglruch, 1828) appears in English translation as early as 1843 in a children’s hymnal published by the still-extant Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. While the original text contains 14 stanzas, Edward Caswell’s translation contains just six, which form the basis for renderings of “When Morning Gilds the Skies” … Read more

History: “There is a Happy Land”

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In hymnody, “There is a Happy Land” might be considered a one-hit wonder. While unknown to most modern church-goers, the hymn one of the most popular nineteenth century hymns in American and British Sunday schools.   School teacher Andrew Young (1807-1889) wrote “The Happy Land” in 1838. Young was a teacher and then a headmaster … Read more

John Newton was a slave ship captain

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Despite our sentimental attachment to the song, the story of “Amazing Grace” is intertwined with the story of transatlantic slave trade. In fact, the hymnwriter’s life tells us not only about grace, but about justice. While his mother hoped that he would join the clergy, English hymn writer John Newton (1725-1807) renounced his Christian faith … Read more